September 2000

From a wrestling standpoint, SUWA always had to take the majority of the offense in this match. And he did, which is not a bad thing. For being one of the resident bruisers, he is surprisingly athletic and has a lot of interesting offense between the low blows and cheating. The false finish may have gotten me the first time I watched the match, but I know very well that DK has a mask much later on, so......not so much. DK did show some good fire, it's just hard to believe some of his strikes would faze SUWA much with the huge size difference. Post-match was really entertaining. One thing that I will say about the Toryumon (and future DG) ref. He is 100% useless…

You'd have to be living under a rock to not guess how this turned out. Prior to the Capos showing up, it was a pretty average brawl. Emilio, Perro and SIlva made for a bit of a wildman team and this had a different edge to the previous SIlva bouts. The comedy was still there, including some priceless reactions from Gran Markus Jr. and Pierroth when they tried to go one-on-one with the Giant, but there wasn't as much stooging as before and Silva is no longer wiping the mat with everyone. In fact, this time the Boricuas taped his wrists to the ropes and we had a bit of Gigante In Peril. It was pretty lame since it was tape instead of handcuffs and he should have been a…

This was an excellent bout. It started out as a Guapos showcase with the rudos fixing each other's hair every time they got upset and turned into a thrilling contest thanks to the brilliance of the tecnicos. Good things happen when you have a slick rudo trio and good tecnicos. Lizmark dialed back the clock and gave his best performance of the year. There was pinpoint accuracy in his topes and tilt-a-whirl backbreakers that reminded me of Atlantis in his prime. It would have been nice if Lizmark had ventured to the indies at some point and had a classic maestro title match. I feel like that's something missing from my life. Shocker was brilliant throughout demonstrating ti…

This match is JIP with Dreamer beating up Rhino around ringside. Lynn and Credible are on the other side. A big trash can is used and this has a lot more heat from the crowd than the previous semi final match. Back inside the ring, Francine gets spanked by Lynn but that costs him as Credible is able to superkick him. Dreamer then hits a DDT on Credible but gets gored. Rhino gives Dreamer a piledriver from the apron through the ringside table. That spot always gets a big reaction. Out comes Spike Dudley with a kendo stick that he attacks Rhino with. Acid Drop from Spike. Credible recovers to hit the That’s Incredible on Spike. Lynn and Credible have some reversals and Lynn…

TNN starts us off with the semi finals of the ECW tournament although hardcore tv gives us some glimpses at the earlier rounds. These shows are generally regarded as the last stand of ECW as a company that could be something. This was a generic match that could have displayed the younger grouping of ECW talent but it felt like the crowd didn’t really resonate with any of these guys therefore the heat was quiet. Even Roadkill didn’t get as large of a reaction as he has elsewhere. Roadkill does get the hot tag and runs through his arsenal of power moves and springboard clothesline. Doring is back up top and hits a leg drop. Roadkill goes up top but Swinger throws him throug…

We are at the finals and see some clips of earlier matches including Lynn getting a pin on RVD in their previous tag. That is a pretty big coup for Lynn pinning RVD and Credible in the same night. Dreamer is wearing a neck brace from the piledriver spot earlier. The opening has everyone pairing off. Match then breaks down with all six brawling around the Hammerstein. Dreamer and Tajiri is easily the most compelling of these followed by Diamond and Lynn. Tajiri really goes after Dreamer using a chair to stand on Dreamer’s neck and biting his forehead. I like Tajiri showing this vicious edge against Dreamer even as a face. The camera cuts between Dreamer/Tajiri on the floor…

As CM Punk’s hair gets longer, we are seeing the evolution that would translate into one of the biggest indie stars on the US within a couple of years. He gives a biting promo before the match that shows he can be quick witted with all the quips from the audience. Bobby Bambino isn’t great but not awful and they have a good match that was engraved with fundamentals. Punk feeds himself into Bobby when needed and also leads the match when needed. Punk gets on the microphone mid match in one of his favorite staples over the years. One of the bigger spots of the match is Punk delivering a That’s Incredible to Bobby. Punk climbs to the top but wastes time jawing with fans and …

Some horrendous camera work during this match but as a garbage brawl, this was one of the better ones we have seen this year. Corp is able to work a convincing brawl with his punches and punishment and this didn’t have the fat that some of the Ian matches had. Bambino in this type of match really surprised me. He is spotty but takes some nice bumps onto chairs and a particularly big bump onto the table on the outside. The finish wasn’t a surprise as I didn’t expect Bambino to take a big bump through the nails. I was happy that the match ended after one Falcon Arrow through the nails. Good match. ***1/4 (6.5)

This was quite a shock to see these guys performing for AJ in front of a Budokan crowd. This whole card shows how AJ really brought in as many other people and special features they could to keep interest up. They did a 12 minute match which packed a ton of action. This Crazy Max trio is my favorite. CIMA looked like he was out to impress. He takes some great bumps here including one to crotch himself. M2K works over him and before he makes a hot tag he also is able to springboard off the middle rope, deliver a dropkick on the apron and a moonsault. That was amazing to watch. Masaaki and Fuji also were fired up and they are the feature pairing at the end with Masaaki pick…

A strong tag match to end the show. Overall, a very good show for All Japan. This set up Tenryu vs Kawada as they really went after each other. Tenryu and Williams interacting is fun to see as they haven’t interacted since 1990. Hansen is certainly winding down and he has only five more matches after this. A couple of moments saw Doc being visibly light with him which takes the match down overall but Hansen is still there in the big moments and he ends up getting the final pin with the lariat. Hansen overall is going to be tough to gauge when I do my top 100 wrestlers list. Really all four of these men are. The punches Doc threw against Tenryu were much more vicious than …

Talk about it here.

Brookside vs Dragon sounds intriguing on paper and they crammed a lot into the three minute match. This reminded me of the Dragon matches from a month ago before he started doing some 7-8 minute stuff the past couple of weeks. Brookside brings a different flavor and is heelish here which is a contrast to what I am familiar with. USA chant even breaks out towards the end for Dragon. Finish sees Dragon kicking out of a Northern Lights suplex and Dragon doing a British style nifty roll up for the win. *1/2

The crowd didn’t seem to know who to cheer for here but Krush became the defacto face. I don’t know when Krush gets the call up but I am surprised to see him still plying away in Memphis this late into the year. Krush does cheat with his foot on the ropes which brings a lot of his goodwill to an end and felt like a spot he shouldn’t have put in. Now the crowd says that K Krush sucks. Krush remains on top for the majority of the match. Viscera comes in and pulls K Krush out of the Absolute. Krush throws powder into the eyes but misses the big legdrop. Abs recovers enough to hit the Absolute put the referee is still out. Another referee comes in and Viscera attacks him. Kru…

Kingpins are indie tastic. Tracy starts up a bald headed geek chant. Cade/Tracy continue to be a nice pairing and overall for a four minute tag this like the Dragon/Brookside match crammed a good bit of action within a short time window. Cade is FIP for a bit and Tracy does his patented excellent hot tag with tons of back heel kicks and punches. Bobcat provides a distraction but Tracy is one step ahead and rolls up the Kingpin for the win. I love Tracy popping right up and dancing for Bobcat until the Mean Street Posse come in and beat up Smothers/Cade. *1/4

Coco leads his recruits against King and Blade. Action here is fine but not spectacular by any means and there wasn’t a whole lot of meat to it. I guess they have sort of dropped the King turning heel narrative they were working with because he picks up the win here. I liked Laird in the big elimination match but he was less impressive here. After taking the loss, Laird and Logan are forced to do some military drills as punishment. *

Lazz kisses the referee and Styles takes him down. Unfortunately for AJ, Lazz likes this and invites him to do it again. AJ hits a nice dropkick onto the arm of Lazz that was propped on the top rope. AJ does a good job as a heel working that arm and mixing in his flashier offense in a heel mannerism. AJ does a springboard flip floatover into a Northern Lights that poor Lazz has no idea how to bump for. Lazz gets some hope spots hitting a headbutt to the balls of AJ but Bailey trips up Lazz. Lazz teases kissing Bailey but gets hit with a tope con hilo from AJ. Lazz continues to be worked over and we head to break with Lazz getting out of a sunset flip by biting AJ in the n…

The finish of NWA Elite vs American Males is shown. Decent action towards the end with Bailey using his shoe to allow them to advance. Finals are set with Scottie Wren having to face off against NWA Elite on his own. NWA Elite works him over and takes off the bandage on top of his head to work on the cut. Some pretty gory looking close up camera angles. When all hope looks lost for Wren, JC Dazz in a neckbrace comes back and helps Wren. They run through some of their old tag team moves and end up winning the titles. This is a cool moment for long term fans that these former partners but big time rivals are back together as the Boogalu crew. Jeff G Bailey has a promo goin…

Cool to see Wolfie in OVW here in the Disciples of Synn tag team. Damaja and Dinsmore start off hot and Dinsmore looks strong with a double clothesline. The heels take over with some powder in the eyes from Synn and like usual we get a perfectly fine OVW match that is marred by Cornette screaming and a bevy of run ins at the finish. Cornette tells us Jim Ross is on commentary with them next week and I can’t even imagine how loud that broadcast will be. The run ins here weren’t the most egregious we have seen with Flash Flanagan impressing. **

I think this was still taped before the Animals full face turn so the work is a little awkward in that regard. In what still feels like a lost year for him, Rey may honestly be the best worker in WCW for the year when all is said and done. A bunch of that has to do with him at least having mostly straight wrestling matches whereas people like Jarrett and Booker have been involved in so much stuff that was overbooked. Juvy gets cut off on the air Juvy with a clothesline and Konnan is able to give 3 Count some credit on commentary. Tygress low blows Karagias. Juvy is in the white pants and almost looks like a member of 3 Count. Tygress is able to hit the bronco buster on He…

High octane opener with all action but York and Matthews hit their spots cleanly. I’ve appreciated Hot Commodity for knowing what they are and playing to those strengths. The plancha that Matthews does to the outside is generally the highlight of the match. Hamrick is able to come in and deliver the big leg drop with the referee pulled away. Hot Commodity is able to advance. *1/2

ECW clearly positioned this to be the marquee match of round one but this was on the choreograph side of things which is never going to be anywhere close to my favorite flavor of RVD. The stuff doesn’t look bad but it also doesn’t look like it hurts very much and that they are trying their hardest to win these vacant titles. The best spot was the way that RVD went into the split legged moonsault that Hammerstein going nuts. Dreamer felt like the odd man out throughout this match but he sells all of the offense well including convulsing on the ramp after RVD’s tope con hilo. Joey says this is the wildest tag team matchup ever seen in ECW which is right up there with “Tonig…

Tajiri & Mikey Whipwreck vs FBI (Little Guido & Tony Mamaluke) - ECW Hardcore TV 9/2/00 Tajiri & Whipwreck are insanely over! The Hammerstein Ballroom is molten for this! The match is quick short, but is so damn fun. Incredible babyface shine that has the crowd absolutely rocking. Those kicks by Tajiri goddamn! Mamaluke was awesome bumping and stooging. Mamaluke & Guido took the awesome offense of the Unholy Alliance and made it even better with their selling and bumping. Guido & Mamaluke work a short heat segment. When Mikey hits the Whippersnapper (Stunner) you would think Steve Austin just fucking hit the Stunner the crowd EXPLODED!!! Tajiri jus…

I kind of poked fun of Jd’ earlier for the sparse crowd in Korakuen and this is even worse effort from JWP. That is a shame as the tag match was really fun. Hyuga and Commando are a good team and Commando not understanding her size is always amusing especially in this match when she takes the fight to Reggie. Reggie was the most impressive member of her team as she provided a nice power base but also fed into the highpoints of Hyuga and Commando. There is something satisfying about the time and work of JWP matches to me. Hyuga picks up a strong win. ***1/2 (7.2)

Porky starts out with a handshake but slaps the rudos after they shake hands. Him and Pimpinela are already after each other and Pimpinela refuses a kiss. Fuerza does some fouls to start things off. Rudos take the first fall and are celebrating. Tecnicos come back in second fall and Rivera and Mosco are pissed. Satanico is alone with Porky as the crowd chants Porky’s name. This is some great comedy with Satanico hitting his partners and all four tumbling down to the stomach bump of Porky. Porky then gives a bronco buster to all four. All the tecnicos take turn diving on all four but Porky refuses. In one of the greatest comedy spots I have ever seen Rivera pulls out a gun…

A long interview segment with Parka starts the video. I didn’t get much out of this but Parka does look like a cool mofo. The match itself was good if a little frantic. The portions with Antifaz and Dandy were the best as they did double juice and really went after one another. The finish was another “who really got fouled” moment which was frustrating since it just worked so well in the comedy match. I want to see Antifaz and Dandy have a singles match. ***1/4 (6.4)